Rowdy Recap: Week of June 17, 2019
With so much weekly content on WWE TV, it can be difficult to keep track of everything.
That’s where Rowdy Recaps come in, looking back at the week in WWE TV and narrowing down the highlights of the big three shows (and sometimes more). (205 Live and NXT UK will certainly get some more love and appreciation in the future, but baby steps.)
So: Let’s take a look back at the past week in WWE!
Monday Night RAW (June 17, 2019)
Quick & Dirty Results:
- Ricochet def. The Miz, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, & Cesaro, in a Fatal 5-Way Elimination match for the #1 Contendership to thee United States Championship
- Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) def. local competitors
- The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, & Big E) def. Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, & Kevin Owens, in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Six-Man Tag Team match
- The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) def. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
- The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) (c) def. Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss, for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match
- Seth Rollins def. Daniel Bryan
The Highlights:
This week’s Monday Night RAW truly deserved more than the typical three highlights, which—I’ve got to say—is definitely a pretty good sign.
So here’s the thing… Seth Rollins + steel chair = OTP. (Sorry, Becky Lynch.) It’s a simple principle: If you side with Baron Corbin in his quest for a special guest referee at Stomping Grounds, you’re going to get the steel chair.
Hell, if you are Baron Corbin, you’re going to get the steel chair.
Bonus highlight connected to this highlight: every participant in the elimination Fatal 5-Way match hitting their finisher on a fallen Elias after he gets the steel chair.
Well, I can’t mention the participants of the elimination match without addressing the elimination match itself. The only disappointing part of it is how quick the eliminations for Cesaro, Bobby Lashley, and Braun Strowman all come, but that’s far from a true complaint when you consider the match as a whole and the one-on-one conclusion between Ricochet and The Miz. And talk about a big win for Ricochet.
Plus, before he’s eliminated, Cesaro busts out the Alpamare Waterslide for old time’s sake on Strowman! (Cesaro is very strong, you see. It’s great.)
Finally, The IIconics defend their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship—and they win! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. And just to make it even sweeter, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce retain against actual competition, in the form of Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss. Of course, there is the Bayley of it all, but that won’t matter in the history books, now will it? IICONIC!
Strangely enough, the Shane McMahon segments in this week’s RAW aren’t exactly the worst part, but that’s because they include things like Drew McIntyre Scottish Psychopathing all over his former 3MB bandmate Heath Slater, The Revival pocketing McIntyre’s cash (take it any way you can get it, boys), and Shane not being the central focus of the show or in a match at all. Savor moments like this, because they won’t last long. But at least Roman Reigns gets to kick some ass for a bit.
Duh, of course Seth Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan is a highlight—though it was a bit touch and go with the initial DQ finish. But thankfully, the match is restarted, and two of the best in the world are allowed to just go out there and do what they do best. Is that so much to ask?
SmackDown! LIVE (June 18, 2019)
Quick & Dirty Results:
- Dolph Ziggler def. Xavier Woods
- Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis) def. The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel)
- Drew McIntyre & Elias def. Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth), in a Tag Team Elimination match
- Drake Maverick def. R-Truth (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
- Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston def. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, in a 2-out-of-3-Falls Tag Team match
The Highlights:
Xavier Woods always puts on one hell of a match when he actually gets the opportunity to do so, and this match is no different. There is some minor worry about interference in the form of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, but they’re just as quickly sent away (with Kofi Kingston and Big E sent away as well a few moments later) so the match can continue in peace. But there’s nothing peaceful about Dolph Ziggler, especially when it comes to his intentions for Xavier Woods during this match and Kofi Kingston at Stomping Grounds.
I mean, coming out there with Alexa Bliss’ coffee… Bayley, you kind of just proved everything Bliss has been saying about you these past few weeks right. Yes, Bayley is right about what Bliss did to Nia Jax and Mickie James, but she certainly makes Bliss look right on every other front before she finally gets to that part. The question is: Is Alexa right about Bayley peaking in NXT? Bayley doesn’t seem to think so.
I just have one question: Did Drake Maverick really have to go with the fake breasts to sell the Carmella drag?
Look, Seth Rollins made this clear on Monday. They should have listened to him, instead of meeting with Baron Corbin.
NXT (June 19, 2019)
Quick & Dirty Results:
- Damian Priest def. Raul Mendoza
- Xia Li def. Tayna Conti
- Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, & Bobby Fish) def. Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, & Tyler Breeze
The Highlights:
Back at Full Sail for the first time since winning the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXV, Adam Cole (and the rest of Undisputed Era) is in one hell of a mood. Of course his first words are “told ya so.” (But you know, they’ve still got to fulfill their promise of the entire crew having all the gold in 2019.) And of course Kyle O’Reilly put his educated editing skills to work for the new and improved (and undisputed) NXT intro. (I like it.)
But you really want to talk about a highlight, you’ve got to talk about the six-man tag team match between Undisputed Era and the team of Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, and Tyler Breeze. Six high-level athletes—six stallions, if you will—just putting on a great match, like they can all do in their sleep.
And it looks like Roderick Strong is coming for Dream’s North American Championship…
The NXT Breakout Tournament begins on the next edition of NXT and just the promise of this new talent—and trust me, they are, in fact, talented—is a definite highlight.
Stomping Grounds (June 23, 2019)
As for the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view, you can read all about that here.
You can watch last week’s RAW and SmackDown on Hulu and NXT and Stomping Grounds on the WWE Network.